Logs and remote access

You won’t need this page to use CouchPotatOS. It’s here for when something goes wrong and we, or you, want a closer look.

Logs

What	Where
System updates from Steam	/var/log/couchpotatos-update.log
Everything else	journalctl -b (this start) or journalctl -b -1 (the start before)

You can read them in desktop mode with the Konsole terminal. Attach them when you report a problem.

Log in over SSH

SSH is off by default and never accepts passwords. To turn it on for one start, add a boot option that tells CouchPotatOS whose keys to let in:

Boot option	Lets in
couchpotatos.ssh=github:NAME	The public SSH keys of GitHub account NAME
couchpotatos.ssh=https://…	The public keys at that address
couchpotatos.ssh=1	Keys already in /root/.ssh/authorized_keys

Then log in as root from another computer on the same network.

The installer understands the same option. Start the installer with it, and the installed system keeps those keys and turns SSH on at every start, which is handy for testing.

Adding a boot option

The boot menu is hidden on CouchPotatOS. To add an option once, with a keyboard:

1. Restart, and tap Esc a few times right after the PC maker’s logo, until the menu appears.
2. Press e on the first entry.
3. Add the option at the end of the line that starts with linux.
4. Press F10 to start.

On the installer stick, the menu is shown anyway: start at step 2.

Other boot options

Boot option	Does
couchpotatos.music=off	Starts the installer without music
couchpotatos.ui_scale=0.7	Makes the installer smaller (default 0.8, larger numbers make it bigger)